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The Launch of the Newly Revised Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
KUALA LUMPUR, December 10, 2015 – Over the last two decades there has been a marked increase in the incidence of diabetes mellitus in this country. The percentage of adults above the age of 30 years with diabetes has gone up from 8.3% in 1996 to 20.5% in 2011. That’s a staggering 80% increase every 10 years! By 2020 when Malaysia attained a developed nation status it is predicted that 1 in every 3 adults above the age of 30 will have the disease.
The above problem is made worse by findings that indicated only 13% of patients with diabetes in tertiary hospitals and 24% in health clinics have their diabetes under control. Among countries in the South East Asia region, Malaysia performed the worse in terms of having good diabetes control. Majority of our patients are exposing themselves to unnecessary risk of heart diseases, strokes and kidney failures by having poorly controlled diabetes. One of the major factors that lead to the escalation of heart diseases is diabetes as more than 40% of patients admitted with a heart attack into Malaysian hospitals have diabetes.
In light of the above, the Ministry of Health, Academy of Medicine Malaysia, Diabetes Malaysia (Persatuan Diabetes Malaysia) and the Malaysian Endocrine & Metabolic Society (MEMS) have commissioned a group of medical specialists and experts in the field of diabetes management and its related complications to revise the Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. This revised edition of the guidelines will be launched by the Director General of Health, Datuk Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah when he officiates the opening ceremony of the 18th ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies (AFES) Congress which is being held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) from the 10th to the 13th of December 2015.
The opening ceremony will also be attended by Secretary General of the International Society of Endocrinology, Prof Dr Paul Stewart from the University of Leeds, UK, President-Elect of the American Endocrine Society Prof Dr. Lynette Nieman, the seven presidents of the Endocrine Societies from South East Asia and a host of foreign as well as local delegates.
During the three and half day congress, a series of plenary lectures, symposiums and meet the expert sessions will discuss various issues ranging from recent advances in the treatment of diabetes, endocrine and metabolic diseases to the latest research findings in the field of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism.
Endocrinology or endocrine is a field of medicine which deals with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases related to hormones; the most important among these diseases is diabetes mellitus. Other organs that produce hormones include the pituitary, thyroid, parathyroids, adrenals and the reproductive system.
ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies or AFES is a federation of endocrine societies from countries belonging to ASEAN. Currently it is made up of national endocrine societies from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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